Hi there! This is CT Anne, aka Oldenmeade, delighted to be bringing you my first challenge as a member of the NBK team.
This week we're going to be making a photo a little bit more interesting by giving it some grunge or texture, before using it in a layout.
Here is my finished page, and here's how I went about changing the background.

1. Find photo with some clear space and duplicate it, then hide the original.

2. Find paper with nice texture or grunge. I used Mixed Media pp 07 from the Counting collection by NBK Design

3. Place the paper on top of the photo. You might need to stretch the paper to fit.
4. Lower the opacity on the pp so you can see through to the photo to get the placement right
5. Take the opacity back up to 75% and start experimenting with various blending modes until you find an effect you like.
6. For this one I chose Lighten

7. If you find that you like the effect in some places, but not in others, attach a white layer mask to the paper and then paint over it with a soft black brush to 'erase' the unwanted areas. (Make sure you have the layer mask selected when you are using the brush)
8. If you want to undo anything, change your brush to white and paint it back in again.
9. For my page I 'erased' areas over the guitarist, the case, and the shadows.

10. Now you can transfer your photo over to your layout and finish it however you want.